If you’ll grant me the long road for a second, the year was 2001. I was in high school and At The Drive-In’s magnum opus Relationship of Command had just rewired my brain about what music could be. It sent me on a search for that same frenetic energy and there simply wasn’t else anything like it in rock music. Then I saw the fever dream of a music video for Outkast’s B.O.B. (Followed shortly by songs like Gasoline Dreams and Humble Mumble fulfilling the energetic promise made by the technicolor video). The rest, as they say, is history, and my musical taste has only grown more deranged. 2000 was a good year for weirdos.
It’s been 25 years since Stankonia was released, half introducing the mainstream world to the lushness of the Atlanta music scene and half redefining it. And to celebrate, the iconic hip hop duo have teamed up with Atlanta’s Portrait Coffee to “[reimagine] 25 years of Stankonia through coffee.”
Announced Friday, October 24th, the collaboration is called Stankonia Coffee and it “pays tribute to the spirit of the album—funky, futuristic, and unapologetically Atlanta.” On pre-order until October 28th, it’s a blend of coffees from Rwanda and Colombia, one an experimental natural and the other washed. The medium roast coffee has notes of green apple, strawberry, and brown sugar.
“It’s an honor to collaborate with Atlanta legends Big Boi and André 3000,” says Aaron Fender, co-founder of Portrait Coffee. “This collaboration represents everything we love about Atlanta—originality, flavor, and community. When we set out to pour a new narrative, moments like this were beyond our wildest dreams.”
Along with the coffee, Portrait and Outkast are releasing a limited edition t-shirt and tote bag as well as a diner mug and Fellow Carter Mug, all of which will be available via the Portrait website.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. On October 30th, Portrait’s West End cafe will host a community celebration with “Stankonia-inspired visuals, curated drinks, and Southern-inspired bites by Chef Jamal Makanjuola.” Then over the following weekend, Portrait and Outkast are teaming up for “a series of community giveback activations, including the Stankonia25 Cascade Event at Cascade Skating Rink on October 30 and 25 Trees for 25 Years of Stankonia with TreesATL and Hot 107.9 on October 31, planting 25 trees at Tri-Cities High School, Outkast’s alma mater.”
If ever there was an album deserving of a 25th anniversary collaboration, it is Outkast’s Stankonia and there is no roaster better suited to do it than Atlanta’s Portrait Coffee. For more information, visit Portrait’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
